Change 'featured' section to 'latest' and add image thumbnail?

Hey guys, I'm wondering how easy it would be to change the Featured section in the Acamas theme to just display the Latest/Most Recent post from all categories (the main excerpt being the last post written, then maybe 4 or 5 recent posts in the smaller list to the right).

Also wondering how to include a thumbnail image next to the Latest/Most Recent excerpt?

Can anyone show me how to do thing in an easy-to-understand way? Would be much appreciated!